Intricate Tapestry Resolutions
by ETNRL4L
Summary: Sequel. This is for anyone who read the first one and stayed wondering  as I did  what happened with Kenny and Ben. If you haven't read the first one... not a good idea to start here. You'll be lost. Gwevin and Benlie-Please read and review!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is a reader request from Amozon28 and is therefore dedicated to her. She is currently writing the most concise review of every chapter of the prequel to this story (Seriously! These things are like cliff notes). Let this be an example to all who read and review my stories of how generously I am willing to reward efforts that go above and beyond.**

**This was intended as a second prologue to my first story, but evolved into this monstrosity. It was also supposed to be a one-shot but as I wrote it, I came upon some amazing cliff-hanger bits that forced me to split it in three. (My mind is very random.)**

**This is basically the wrap-up of Ben and Kenny's converstion in Chapter 8 of 'Intricate Tapestry'. So, if you haven't read the first story…don't bother with this one.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10 or any of the characters in this fan-fiction. Man of Action does.**

**Enjoy!**

It was excessively quite in Devlin's car.

Laconism from Kenny was unnatural. The kid considered conversation a pastime. When three minutes had passed and all he'd done was stare out the window at the passing vehicles, his older cousin couldn't stand the deafening silence anymore. "Okay, Dude. Why'd you hug my dad?"

The brunette shrugged one shoulder without looking at the older teen. "I like your dad a lot." Came the simple response.

The raven-haired teenager let out an obviously disbelieving huff of air and started chortling mockingly at the younger boy who immediately turned insulted green eyes at him. Devlin only shook his head in return. "Yeah right, Kenny! You're terrified of him half the time. What about _that_ exactly do you like?"

Kenny was stoic and his voice held no jest when he replied. "The _other_ half of the time he cares about me and Gwenny like we're his own kids. He's a really great guy. He let me go." He immediately turned back to the window and crossed his arms with an indignant huff.

The older teen's laughter only renewed at his aggravation. Seriously, what was the kid so angry about? It's not as if he had to go face Kevin Levin in ten minutes like _he_ did. He got him off the hook. "You like my dad 'cause he let you go?"

"Sorry to break this to you, but I'm pretty sure his letting you leave had nothing to do with you, man. He saw my eyes. He knows something's up… something big. He's likely too freaked out about that to care about ruining your weekend anymore."

The brunette twirled on his cousin with rage mixed with an unreadable emotion burning in his eyes. He nearly snarled as he spoke. "That's exactly why I like him, Devlin! He's one of the proudest people I know! He doesn't accept disrespect from anybody. He wanted to keep me there to teach me a lesson. Especially, after he found us outside the room, clearly defying his orders. He should have burned me! But, one look in your eyes and he didn't care anymore. What _he_ wanted took a backseat to whatever he thinks is wrong with _you_. You're more important to him than his stupid ego. _That's_ why he let me go!" By the end of the statement, his eyes glassed over and he had to turn away. No way, was he letting his cousin see tears fall. He had to fight it back.

Devlin turned away from him and faced the approaching headquarters building, a sympathetic expression on his face. He maneuvered in front of the garage and the sensors instantly read the signatures inside, allowing him entrance. Once inside he stalled the engine and placed a hand on his best friend's shoulder. He gave him a comforting squeeze. "You can't let it get to you like that, Dude. You know your dad would give up anything for you guys. He's just…easily distracted."

The younger teen let out an outraged scoff at that, turning a humorless smile at his cousin. "That is the understatement of the century. Don't you think, Cuz?" He reached to the backseat and got his bag, adding, "He asked me to tell him what he's doing to Mom."

The older teen raised a confused eyebrow at his cryptic remark. "What?"

"In the past, Dad asked me to tell him in the present about how he's hurting Mom," the brunette clarified.

Now, confusion _and_ shock mixed on Devlin's mien. "You were with him for a day and you managed to tell him he's been a jerk to your mom? How does a topic like that even come up? For that matter, how are you going to work up the nerve to tell him what you haven't been able to for fifteen years?"

Kenny shrugged. He didn't have an answer for the last question but he could answer the first two and see what his brain conjured up in the mean time. "He asked whether Mom and he were still together now as if some part of him knew he didn't treat her right even twenty-two years ago. I had to tell him the truth because anything less would have been unfair to Mom. He didn't take it seriously and I got angry…"

The raven-haired teenager didn't like the sound of that. He knew the crap the kid said, unfiltered, when angered. "God, Kenny! What did you tell the poor kid?"

Guilt flashed in the younger teen's eyes, his voice grew quite. "I told him what happened when Mom was pregnant with me."

Devlin's eyes widened in dismay. His uncle had been having a nightmare when he wiped his memory. It very nearly emulated the events his own father had retold him about Kenny and his Aunt Julie's near death. He hadn't thought much of it at the time. He didn't even think it was a memory. Now it made sense. He was glad he took care of it.

"How could you tell him that, Dude?" It wasn't his intention to reprimand his already downtrodden cousin. It was just so…wrong.

The brunette sighed and turned determined eyes at his cousin, opening the door. "I was angry, Dev, I told you. Maybe, I still am. He needs me to help him. He asked me to. I'll figure something out eventually." He got out and held the door opened, leaning down he added with a sad smile, "I'm guessing we won't be able to hang out for a while once your dad is done with you, huh?"

Devlin chuckled darkly, humorlessly. "Not until I can figure out a way to break out again…it might be a few days depending on the severity of the sentence and how pissed he gets me." He grew serious and locked matching emerald eyes with the brunette to finish. "We can always talk at school, though. You know you can always talk to me there Kenny…about anything. I'm here for you." He sent a genuinely affectionate smile at the boy.

Kenny returned it in kind. "Thanks, Dev. I know you are. I'll be taking you up on that offer sooner than you think. I need to skip Physics Monday. I have a test I did not study for." A devious smirk spread across his face.

The older teen couldn't help but laugh at the kid's effort. "You're stupid enough as it is, Dude. I'm_ not_ helping you skip a test! Depending on how things go with the folks, I'll see if I can help you study for it, though."

Kenny didn't bother hiding his disappointment. He pouted as he slammed the door shut. "You suck, Devlin!"

The raven-haired teen blew a mockingly exaggerated kiss at his younger cousin, revving the engine. "Up yours, Kenny!"

Then he was off at an unbelievably unsafe speed for leaving an enclosed garage.

* * *

><p>-Three and a half Months Later. Levin Residence. Gwen's Baby Shower-<p>

The instant her feet touched the ground; the Asian American girl contracted her hover board and ran for the door giggling with unbridled excitement. She didn't bother checking behind her for her lagging older brother. Se was sure he was back there…somewhere. She hadn't bumped him _that_ hard against the side of a car when they were racing here. He must have survived.

She rang the doorbell and quickly went to work on unbuttoning the last three buttons at the very top of her blouse, exposing the cream-colored flesh just above her newly developing cleavage. Her older brother sidled up to her breathing haggardly. "Thanks for trying to kill me, Gwenny! Then his emerald eyes dropped to her hands fumbling with her blouse, uncovering ever more skin. "What are you doing! Button your shirt! Are you getting naked?" He grab for her wrists outraged.

The female teen turned away and finished quickly, straightening her blouse. Then, she turned to the brunette with an obvious innocent smile. "No, Stupid! See. I'm just opening my blouse up a little. It was too stuffy. I'm hot from flying here. I'm not really exposing anything."

Her older brother narrowed his eyes at her with mistrust. It was uncommonly warm for late January and neither was wearing a coat but it wasn't unpleasant. "I don't believe you. Why'd you wait to land to do it? You didn't want to run the risk of anyone seeing you doing it! This is because Eddie's coming to this thing isn't it? I swear Gwen, if he comes near you; he's going to get the living crap beaten out of him. Dad told you both you're off limits to each other until _you_ are fifteen!" Anger colored every word the teenager spoke. He was dead serious.

Gwenny just rolled her eyes and let out an insulted breath. "Like I'd go to any length of trouble for a guy. Besides, I'm fifteen next month so this ridiculous little restraining order all you boys have on Eddie will be moot." She graced him with a superior smirk, lacing her fingers in front of her demurely.

"Yeah well its not next month, Freak, so he keeps his hands off or looses them. Button your shirt!" The brunette was about to make a grab for his baby sister's blouse when the door slid open and she quickly dashed inside giggling a hello to her older cousin as she passed him on her way past the entry to the kitchen.

Devlin didn't bother looking surprised. What was the use? "Don't run in the house Gwenny! You'll piss off Mom!" He turned back to greet his obviously aggravated younger cousin who hadn't bothered running after his sociopath sister. "I see you're already having a lovely day."

The brunette just huffed walking beside him to the kitchen. They were supposed to be here early to help out their aunt with decorating the house for the party but it looked like they were already late.

There were literally hundreds of purple and white Mylar and rubber balloons everywhere both on the floor and floating in the air with their strings twirling down. They all had a message like "Congratulations!" and "Baby" on them. They gave off the illusion of bubbles. There were streamers and banners hung everywhere. The dinning room table had four centerpieces made up of baby paraphernalia and dozens of cupcakes in the same color scheme. This must have taken hours.

The brunette turned to his older cousin with impressed awe on his face. "Dude, did you guys do all this just this morning?"

The Osmosian teen raised a tired eyebrow at the question, deadpanning. "Who's 'you guys'? Mom had her first Braxton-Hicks contractions at two o'clock this morning… Scared the crap out of both Dad and me. They finally stopped at around six but I was too wired to go back to sleep, so I started on all of this." He swept his hand around the large open common area of the house. "I have inflated so many balloons, Dude…I'm pretty sure after today I don't want to see anything purple ever again.

"Is Aunt Gwen all right, Dev? Where is she?" Gwenny emerged from the kitchen with a look of concern and a purple cupcake in her hand. Her lips were tinted purple from the bite she'd taken.

"I'm fine, sweetheart." Gwen emerged from the hallway wearing a form fitting, long, white shirt-dress. She wrapped her niece in a hug the best she could around her protruding middle and moved to do the same with her nephew.

The Asian American girl stared. Her aunt was the most beautiful pregnant woman she'd ever seen. She was glowing radiantly. Her long red hair was loose and looked thicker than she'd ever seen it. From behind, she didn't look with child at all. She moved with a grace even a woman not in her state would positively covet.

The female teen knew this to be a benefit of the martial arts training the ginger partook of almost religiously. It made her itch to get in the gym. "Wow, Aunt Gwen you look amazing! I hope I look half as good as you when I'm pregnant." Awe tempered every word.

"In another two decades, we'll all be fascinated to find out if that happens for you, little girl."

Annoyance flitted across Gwenny's coffee eyes at her uncle's mocking comment. She turned to see him coming up beside her. He wore an aggravating smirk as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders in the form of a greeting. The smile immediately left him the moment he looked down at her, though. "Button up your shirt Gwendolyn."

She swallowed to alleviate the dryness that suddenly appeared in her throat at the tone her uncle's tenor had taken when he had issued his command. She didn't comply, however, preferring to cross her arms defiantly and glare back at the intimidatingly tall Osmosian. She hid her fear amazingly well behind a façade of bravado. "I have a dad, Uncle Kevin, thank you."

He couldn't help smile down at her with admiration even as he heard the shocked intake of breath from the other two male teenagers. He loved this girl. What she lacked in stature and strength she more than made up for in shear moxie.

He guided her non too gently to the kitchen by her shoulders and literally sat her on one of the stools (he picked her up and sat her, like she was two), as he went around the counter to get what appeared to be humongous plate of chocolate covered fruit out of the fridge and set it on the counter.

She was fidgeting nervously now but kept her eyes resolutely on the man in front of her who seemed to be ignoring her. Her brother and cousin were at the opposite end of the counter snickering. Her aunt sat down on one of the stools near them. She could see from the corner of her eye that she was smiling at her uncle as well. She was so nervous that when the man spoke again, she actually jolted.

"Regardless of your father's limited intelligence or how distracted he might have been when you left your house; there is _no way_ he let you walk out like _that_."

He hadn't even bothered regarding her as he spoke yet all the same she shrunk into herself as if he was burning her with a glare. What was it about his voice? Amazingly, she managed to find the resolve to answer back; her voice though, didn't quite make it.

Her intonation was almost a shriek. "I'm not showing off anything, Uncle Kevin!"

The Osmosian actually chuckled and leaned back against the wall-facing counter, crossing his muscled arms over his ripped chest. He shook his head as he burned the tiny teenage girl with the obsidian in his eyes. "Of course you're not. You're fourteen. Button up your shirt or I'll do it for you, Gwendolyn."

That did it.

Gwenny's hands instantly shot up to her blouse and buttoned up the last button. Then she stopped, slamming her hands down on the counter with an incensed pout and bringing her eyes down to land on them.

Her uncle snickered incredulously and shot a look at his wife. She was giggling too, as were the two older teenagers.

Kevin continued to smirk as he moved away from the counter and stood directly in front of Gwenny. He couldn't keep the humor out of his voice. "I don't think you quite got them all, little girl."

The Asian American girl grabbed the last two buttons and violently did them up, glaring at the Osmosian all the while. She spit venomously at him when she was done. "Why do I have to do it at all if I have nothing to show?"

The Osmosian's semblance turned completely apathetic and he leaned down until the girl had no choice but to cower back into the stool. His tenor dripped with the prepotency he commanded. "You do it because I told you to do it. If I find it open again today, you will go home and come back wearing a different top or don't come back at all."

He leaned back and regarded his wife in a much softer tone. "Morningstar's coming with his mother, isn't he?" When she nodded in the affirmative still smiling at him, he turned back to the now terrified teenage girl who could no longer meet his eyes. "You will stay at least ten feet away from Edward the entire time he's here, Gwenny, out of respect for your father's wishes. I will let him know this as soon as he arrives. If either of you break this rule, I will give Kenny and Devlin a free go at him."

Gwenny's saucer-sized eyes shot up to her uncle and then snapped to her cousin and older brother in horror. The teenagers high-fived each other the moment they heard this. "Oh, Yes! This place could definitely use a blonde piñata!"

She blanched at Devlin's off-colored joke. It didn't sound like a joke at all.

Her desperate eyes shot back to her uncle pleadingly. "No, Uncle Kevin! Please, I'll be good!"

The Osmosian couldn't help but let her adorable pleading big brown eyes mitigate his stern demeanor and he smiled, ruffling her long mocha hair. "Of course, you will, sweety. I'm not giving you a choice. You misbehave and your boy toy gets beaten to a bloody pulp."

The female teen immediately snapped her head back as far away from him as she could and shrunk into the stool even further. She wrapped her arms tightly around herself and sulked.

Kevin laughed sadistically at her reaction, picking up the fruit plate and letting Gwen pick out something before making to head out to the back yard with her.

"You know, you used to be cool." It was a grumbled reply and the Asian American girl kept her eyes on the counter but everyone knew whom she meant.

The Osmosian didn't miss a beat as he retaliated, "You used to be cute and my favorite. Now you're making me reconsider my position. Sucks you had to turn thirteen." The moment the girl's eyes narrowed into furious insulted slits at him, he stuck his tongue out at her.

Gwen instantly shot a hand up to rub the bridge of her nose. This was the same man who not a minute ago was putting the fear of God into this girl. It was at times like this; she honestly questioned whether her husband was bipolar.

The boys were laughing hysterically at this point.

Gwenny was humiliated and insulted now. She needed to save face. "I feel bad for her," she pointed at her aunt's middle, "if you're this bad now, I can imagine the nightmare _she'll_ have to deal with when she's my age and you're a crotchety old man." She punctuated the insult with a cruel mocking smirk.

Gwen didn't like the evil grin that spread across her husbands face. He enjoyed messing with this poor girl far too much. It was as if he reverted to a fourteen year old himself. She tried to pry him away to the backyard by yanking on his arm hard. "Come on Kevin, you're the adult here."

He sent a nonchalant innocent look at her. "She started it."

The ginger was at a loss for words. What kind of response was that from a thirty-nine year old? She pulled her husband down harshly, whispering something in his ear right before he could say something nasty to their niece.

His eyes snapped to meet hers almost frightened at what she had whispered. She sent him a pointed determined look and nodded towards the backyard.

The Osmosian sent an almost longing look back at the Asian American girl on the stool and then looked back at his wife who had one hand on her hip and an eyebrow raised in an expectant and intriguingly suggestive manner.

He let out a defeated huff of air and regarded his niece cryptically. "Yeah. You are nowhere near worth it, kid." Without another word, he was out the door with his wife.

"What was that all about?" Kenny walked to the large French style doors that led to the back yard to see where his uncles had gone.

Devlin had a very good idea what it had been about but he pretended not to. He and Gwenny just joined the brunette by the glass doors. "Don't know. Don't care. I need you guys to help me blow up another five hundred balloons, most with air some with helium. They're for outside. We have two tanks so you don't have to do the air ones all by yourselves."

He handed a white bag to Kenny and a purple bag to Gwenny. Gwenny started pulling on her first balloon right away; blowing it up by herself. His cousin however kept looking out at his parents with a contemplative expression. His Mom was sitting on his fathers lap on one of four wooden picnic tables. She was trying to feed him a chocolate covered pineapple but he kept purposely biting her fingers and causing her to giggle.

The brunette suddenly turned questioning eyes at his older cousin. "Your dad seems so happy, Dude. I'd figure he'd be totally grumpy right about now."

Devlin pulled the filled balloon out of his mouth and twirled it to tie it, sending a brief look into the yard at his parents then back at his cousin. "Why would he be grumpy? Seriously, you have to help us out here, man." He gestured to the balloons in Kenny's hand.

The brunette startled as if just now noticing he had something in his hand and pulled one out, elaborating, "Well, your mom looks so beautiful but it's got to have been a couple of months since they can… you know…"

His sister stopped blowing up her third balloon and sent him a disgusted sneer. "You're so warped Kenny! Why would you even think of that?"

Kenny turned his insulted eyes to her and raised his voice in his defense. "It's not warped. It's logical that a man that's gotten it whenever he wants it for over sixteen years becomes frustrated when he's cut off."

Devlin snickered at how aggravated his younger cousin was getting but pointedly walked away from the glass door to answer him. He didn't need the visual to go with the words. "My dad is not frustrated, Kenny. I have read every book on pregnancy there is after being stuck here the last three months, not to mention several anatomy books."

"That's why I got so wired this morning with my mom's contractions. I think I'm excited at the prospect of having to deliver my baby sister myself if she suddenly goes into labor. I'm sure I could, at this point." When the brunette's face twisted in disgust, he just rolled his eyes and continued, "I also had to become my mom's Lamaze coach a month ago in exchange for getting my car back and the opportunity to have a date to the baby shower."

Kenny perked up at this new tidbit. "Dude! You didn't tell me you had a date to this thing! Who is it?"

Devlin waved him off. He was so nosy. "Anyway, I learned that hormones make pregnant women do all kinds of weird things, in many cases, even increasing their urges. Especially, when the woman stays active throughout the pregnancy and my mom trained me until her third trimester. After that, she started speed walking. I'm fairly sure neither of my parents is unfulfilled."

Kenny sent another curious look at the couple outside. "Even if that's true… look at her. How do the mechanics of that even work?"

Regardless, how far he was from the door, Devlin still shuddered at the mental picture that question evoked. His voice sounded agonized.

"Very creatively."

Gwenny almost choked on the balloon she was blowing up when she exploded into laughter.

**Please Review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10 or any of the characters in this fan-fiction. Man of Action does.**

**Enjoy!**

The party was in full swing when the Savior of the Universe finally got around to signaling he was arriving. Since the event was technically supposed to be sectioned off to the dining hall and back yard to avoid wrecking their home, the Levins along with Gwenny and Kenny came to the front to meet the Tennysons at the door.

Upon his arrival, Ben immediately wrapped his very pregnant cousin in his chiseled arms, giving her a kiss on the crown of her head. The hug was awkward since her shape was so off from the front. Ben couldn't help but comment, sarcastically, "Woah, Cuz. You're big as a ship! Good look for ya!"

The ginger just sneered at him in response. "Real suave, Ben!" She then hugged Julie tightly and smiled as she retorted to her, "How could you marry him? Seriously! He's somewhere below a Neanderthal on the evolutionary scale!"

"Hey! I heard that! I'm not a monkey!" The barer of the Ultimatrix looked positively indignant as he wrapped both arms around his kid's shoulders lovingly.

His wife sent an adorable pouting smile his way once she finished hugging Gwen. "Aww! Yes you are, Ben, but at least you're _my_ monkey."

The oldest brunette brought his arms up and pretended to sulk, causing his wife to make her way over to him and wrap her arms around his middle (that's as far as she reached). She leaned up on her tippy toes to peck him softly on the lips, giggling. He pretended he didn't like it, grumbling, "I'm not a monkey!"

However, his arms circled her trimmed waist and brought her closer all the same. She could only laugh in response to his infantile adamancy.

The group was starting to move towards the rear of the house when the door chimed again. Kevin who was closest made to answer it.

The door slid open to reveal two smiling brunette teenage girls. The moment their eyes landed on the Osmosian they widened appreciatively and they became entranced. The tallest of the pair found her voice first, "Um…Is this where Devlin Levin lives?"

Kevin chose to direct his inquiry at the tallest girl since the other one seemed satisfied to stand and gape at him. He didn't bother keeping the amused curiosity out of his tenor, leaning against the doorframe and crossing his arms which accentuated the muscles running across every inch of them. The shorter girl looked about to faint. "Who can I say is asking?"

The taller girl started twirling her chestnut tresses as she regarded him with interest. "We are his date to his mother's baby shower. Are you his older brother or something?"

'_We? Aww! No! No! No!_' "DEVLIN!" Kevin turned so violently to yell for his son the girls at the door jumped. No way had the kid actually done this!

Gwenny was closer to the entry and made it to the door ahead of her quickly approaching older cousin. She peaked at who was outside curiously and gasped in excitement. "Brandy! Sky! What are you guys doing here?"

The two girls exchanged a worried, anxious look and smiled nervously at her. Once again, the tallest one spoke. "Hey Gwenny! Devlin sort of invited us to come to the party." She pointedly avoided the other teen girl's eyes.

Gwenny was confused. "Why would he invite both of you to…No!" She turned incensed eyes on the deviously smirking teenage Osmosian who was arriving at the door and screeched horrified. "No, Devlin! I told you they were off limits!"

Kevin ignored his niece and turned furious recriminating eyes on his son. "You invited two of them?"

Devlin pointed at the girls instead of answering. "Dad, they're still outside! How about we let them in before we get into this."

The Osmosian dredged up all his reticence and turned to the girls outside. He spoke as politely as his growing ire would allow. "Sorry. Come in and we'll sort this out."

As the girls came in, the shorter one leaned in to the tallest and whispered, "God! That's his dad? What's with the genes in this freaking family?" The tallest girl, Sky, giggled in response.

Once they were all in the living room, a very curious Ben, Julie, Gwen and Kenny met them. Nobody had made it outside before Kevin hollered.

The Osmosian turned accusingly to his son. "I agreed you could bring _a_ date, Devlin. What are you doing?"

Devlin didn't flinch. He'd expect this kind of reaction. He folded his arms as stubbornly as his father and replied evenly. "You said a date not a number. I couldn't decide between the two of them." He gestured at the two girls staring curiously at the father-son duo.

Gwen, Julie, Gwenny and Kevin all chorused astounded gasps at the unbelievable ludicrousness in that statement. Ben and Kenny started laughing simultaneously.

Kevin ran an aggravated hand through his hair and turned to the girls as his best friend came to stand beside him and put a condescending hand on his shoulder. He regarded them incredulously. "The two of you agreed to this?"

For the first time the shortest, Brandy, spoke with a nonchalant shrug. "It's only a baby shower. Better to share than not get to know Devlin at all."

"Dude! I seriously can't believe you got two girls to go out with you simultaneously _and_ knowingly. You are my hero, man." Even through the chuckles, the awe in Kenny's voice was evident.

Gwenny wasn't chuckling, however. "This sucks! My boyfriend has to stay across the room from me in this party and their dads let them double-team Devlin. How's that fair?"

Ben instantly sent a dangerously withering glare at his daughter. It made her next words die on her tongue. "I don't care what anybody else does, Gwen. You know what happens if Eddie comes near you."

"Hey! Nobody is doing anything with Devlin!" All eyes flew to the tallest girl (including Devlin's green disappointed ones). "Our parents agreed to let us come because they know he's the nephew of _the _Ben Tennyson," She quickly glanced at Ben. "By the way, Mr. Tennyson, my dad really wants your autograph…on anything."

She went back to speaking to the whole group. "They know the party is going to be adult supervised. Besides, what parent lets their daughter go out knowingly with Devlin Levin one on one? He's got an entire scorn wall dedicated to him in the girl's bathroom! You don't tell your parents you're going out with Devlin when he asks you out, Gwenny. We aren't as naïve as you think!"

Gwen came to stand uncomfortably close to her son, scrutinizing him unnervingly. "For God's sake, Devlin! What do you do to your girlfriends?"

He turned genuinely innocent emerald eyes at her. "I don't _do_ anything to them, Mom! They just don't want to let go!" He turned back to Sky and Brandy. "I have a whole wall in the girl's bathroom?"

Both girls shook their heads in disbelieve but Brandy scoffed her amused response. "Don't pretend you've never seen it. We know you've been in there. It's written on almost a square foot of the wall." When the raven-haired teenager raised an honestly stupefied dark eyebrow, she supplied, "Samantha...?"

Realization dawned on Devlin and he blurted, "Oh, Samantha!" Then he cringed at the memory and drew in a sharp breath, hissing. "Oh, Samantha! Yikes! Yeah, that probably deserves a square foot at least. I thought all that stuff on the wall was gibberish. Then again, I _was_ distracted _and _at an odd angle…" His reverie abruptly curtailed by a very violent smack to the back of his head from his mother.

He didn't bother turning to face her. He knew she was pissed. He just rubbed his head where the lump was already forming as every male in the living room laughed at him.

"Dude! The girl's bathroom? You become my hero more and more!"

Gwenny ignored her idiotic brother and turned on her friends pointing at the teenage Osmosian, anger clear in her voice. "Why do you want to get mixed up with that? Who in their right minds would want anything to do with my cousin?"

They would have stared less shocked if she'd grown wings. Brandy stated the obvious. "Have you ever gotten a good long look at him?" Devlin smirked vaingloriously." I mean, you're removed enough genetically that you can check him out, you know. Add to that, the element of danger and it's kind of like skydiving."

Gwenny fisted both hands in her hair in unfathomable frustration. "No, it's not! When you skydive, there's always the chance you are going to land! Get involved with him and you're going to splat! You're both going to splat! It's freaking guaranteed! He's incapable of commitment!" She was fuming so badly at this point she stormed out the living room and into the yard with an aggravated yell.

The raven-haired teen interposed at this impasse, meeting both girls in the eye. "That's true."

All eyes turned to him surprised. He glared at everyone insulted. "What? I don't lie to myself or any of them! I'm fickle!"

Brandy actually seemed taken aback by this but Sky took a few steps toward him, an intrigued smile playing on her lips. "I don't care."

One of his eyebrows quirked up at her and he gave her a knowing smile. "You will eventually. They all do. That's why the wall exists."

She gestured for him to come close and she whispered in his ear. "Let's make a memory worth five square feet of the wall while it lasts, then."

An incredibly devious grin spread on his face. He could definitely enjoy this ride.

Kevin stared at his son's ongoing interaction with the girl, a mix of disdain, horror and pride all coloring his mien. How do you deal with this? He heard his best friend start to snicker again beside him and snapped. "Shut up, Tennyson!"

Ben wiped at his emerald eyes as he tried to stifle his laughter long enough to slap a condoling hand on the Osmosian's back and inquire quietly, "Are you going to punish him for this?"

The Osmosian turned to him, releasing a deeply frustrated hiss of air. He spoke just as softly. "I'm at a total loss here, Man. The kid found some insane loophole in the _one_ concession I made in his grounding. So, technically I agreed to this. _Moreover,_ he got the girls to go along with it! He's freaking brilliant! What exactly can I reprehend here? I'm conflicted between being unbelievably pissed and deeply impressed by this. He is so frustrating to stay ahead of, Ben!"

The emerald-eyed man gave his friend's shoulder an empathetic squeeze. "At least yours is male, Kev. I lost track of Gwenny and Morningstar when she slipped out of the house a moment ago. You _know_ that little spit-fire is taking advantage as we speak."

The Osmosian jerked his head around the living room and realized his niece was indeed gone. He was so caught up with his son's mockery of a _date_, he hadn't noticed her go. She'd used Devlin's fiasco as a distraction! That conniving little minx! Both men exchanged a knowing look and instantly turned to call out to their sons.

Once they had the boys' attention, Ben spoke first. "Kenny, find your sister!"

Kevin's contribution followed swiftly. "It's open season for pretty-boy blondes!"

"Yes!" came the chorused response from both teenagers as they dashed for the back yard. One of them completely forgetting _both_ his dates in the living room at the prospect of raining abuse on poor unsuspecting Eddie.

* * *

><p>Four hours into the party, Gwen had opened her gifts and had to go inside to sit on something more comfortable than the picnic chairs for a while. Julie came inside with her and they enjoyed some tea in the living room as they listened to the noise of the party outside. Gwenny was outside somewhere pouting. Charmcaster had intercepted the boys and prevented a skirmish when they'd found the little Anodyte in her son's arms but she'd sent Eddie home to prevent further trouble. Both matriarchs giggled when their boys came into the house, all carrying baby supplies of varying sizes and grumbling about how they weren't mules and a tiny baby didn't need so much crap. They headed directly for the nursery.<p>

As Devlin emerged from his future sister's room, the doorbell chimed and he ran to open it, calling back to his mother and aunt. "It's alright, Ma. I got it."

He hit the panel to let it whoosh open without even checking who it was. So many people had come and gone today already. His expression soured the moment his eyes landed on the visitors.

At the door stood a tall voluptuous raven-haired young woman with startling blue eyes, wearing an impossibly tight mini skirt and a blazer that exposed so much of her cleavage, the teenager thought he could see her navel.

The woman wasn't what annoyed him, though. It was the gangly cameraman who was standing right beside her. He rolled his eyes exasperated and reached for the panel to close the door. "This is a private residence. The first amendment dies at the front door."

Before he hit the panel, however, the woman literally put one beautifully sculpted leg in the door. "Devlin, right? Your uncle's description of your whit is dead on. Though, he didn't do your physical description nearly enough justice."

She had an unspeakably bubbly voice and the teenager registered an ulterior motive to everything she said. He automatically disliked this woman. Not to mention, knowing Uncle Ben didn't win brownie points with any woman in his book; especially one who only seemed about half a decade older than him. She was obviously a cub reporter. She was trouble.

He was an instant from forcibly shoving her back from the door and shutting it when he heard his uncle's voice coming up behind him. He tensed, dread pooling in his gut.

"Mekayla! You were able to make it. Come in. It's okay, Dev. She's here for me."

'_I bet she is, you self-loving bastard!_'

God! Devlin wished he had established the telepathic link to his uncle before thinking that. The jerk had enough of an Anodytic spark to accomplish it. He shot a look at the living room and saw that his aunt and mother were already coming out to see who was at the door. Kenny and his dad soon joined them.

His heart wrenched at the scathed look in his cousin's eyes.

The reporter seemed to block out everything and everyone once Ben Tennyson came into her line of vision. "Hello Ben," She bubbled casually, "This will only take a moment. We just need a snippet of commentary on your excellent work yesterday in Japan for our ten o'clock segment. I know how taxed the time you get with your family is." She kept one arm crossed propping up her chest and the other hand constantly stroking the side of her long neck as she spoke.

The raven-haired teenager sneered disgusted at her, moving away to stand next to his cousin. The boy stood frozen watching his father interact with this woman. Anyone could see this wasn't conducive to anything healthy.

Ben smiled beguilingly at the young woman and remarked genially. "Thank you so much for your consideration of my time, Mekayla. That is why I like you… always thinking of others."

She giggled and the sound could cut glass. The two Osmosians shared a wide-eyed look. That was one of the harshest sounds they'd ever heard. How daft was Ben?

The wielder of the Ultimatrix turned to face his family and presented the young woman. "Julie you remember Mekayla, we met her at the press conference two weeks ago. Everybody else, this is Mekayla. She needs to interview me for the news tonight. It'll only be a second. Is it okay if we use the office, Kev?"

'_Of course, it's not okay! Get her out of here you moron! You're in front of your wife and son!_'

The Osmosian couldn't have communicated telepathically with his best friend even if he had wanted to, so he sent the message with his eyes and lack of response.

As always, the brunette was oblivious and started guiding the reporter to the office by placing his hand on the small of her back. The hand conspicuously remained there as the interview started and the camera operator recorded. At least, he chose a room with no doors.

Kevin ran an exasperated hand through his hair as he watched. "God! Did he actually invite a groupie to his cousin's baby shower?"

Julie laughed dryly. "She's not a groupie, Kevin. She's trying to become his publicist." Her tone implied she did _not_ believe a single word she had just spoken.

The Osmosian looked the reporter over again and rolled his eyes. He sounded deeply unimpressed. "How exactly does she believe she's going to achieve that position?"

The exceedingly beautiful Asian American woman cocked her head sideways and upwards to meet his eyes squarely with a pointed look. "She probably figures _that _will depend on how many other 'positions' she can achieve with him… That's what all the others have thought, anyway." She looked back at the man she married and scoffed humorless. "He does such a good job at dissuading that line of thought in them, doesn't he?"

"Oh, God, Julie!" Gwen wrapped a comforting arm around her friend's waist. She loved her cousin like a brother but it was hard to imagine a bigger jerk presently.

Julie let out a tired breath and shrugged, continuing to stare at the brunette and his interviewer. "He won't do anything with her. He never does. He'll just string her along, basking in the glow of adulation until she realizes she doesn't have a chance and moves along to make room for the next one."

She felt a strong arm wrap around her slender shoulders and looked up at the Osmosian who was shooting disappointed daggers at his best friend. He cast his onyx eyes down to her. "You know, I'd be more than happy to go a couple of rounds with the pompous bastard if only to wipe that arrogant smile off his face."

She giggled and squeezed the hand that hung over her shoulder appreciatively. She would always be grateful for her family… for Ben's family. The irony of this didn't escape her. "No, thank you, Kevin. I can handle Ben just fine." Now, all she had to do was convince herself and she'd be set.

Devlin kept his worried green eyes on his cousin. He hadn't even twitched since that woman and his father entered the office. His expression was unreadable; his vision glazed over as if he wasn't even focusing on them. It was eerie and disturbed. It was seriously unnerving the older teen.

Kenny burned a whole with his eyes on the infuriatingly offending hand his father kept on the vile woman's back. The rage that started in the pit of his stomach when he first saw this harlot was rising through his veins consuming him. Worse thing was, very little was directed at his father. He was enraged at himself.

He'd forgotten. He'd made a promise to help the man he loved more than any other in the Universe and it had slipped his mind. How could he freaking forget?

He inwardly cursed the insufferable propensity towards aloofness he'd been gifted by the man. His dad had been behaving for the last few months and the thought had faded. He was paying for that now. His mother was paying for it. His father had failed his mother, yes, but he had failed his dad.

The interview ended and Ben walked out of the office, still 'guiding' the attractive young press woman who literally gushed from the attention. She stopped at the door once the cameraman had made his leave, turning to the wielder of the Ultimatrix with a shamelessly coy smile (considering she was flaunting herself in front of the man's family). "Thank you, Ben. Remember, if you need me for _anything_," everyone in the room caught the way she emphasized that word, "Give me a ring."

The audacity of what she did next left everyone witnessing it aghast. She actually had the nerve to wrap her arms around his neck and haul her herself up to his face to plant a kiss on his cheek. Ben did nothing to dissuade her.

Julie had enough. She excused herself quietly from between Kevin and Gwen and dashed for the hallway leading to the bedrooms before the jilted tears broke through the barrier of her lashes. She only barely registered her husband's offer to the reporter to walk her to her news van.

The moment his mother moved past him, Kenny was face with a dilemma. He'd already steeled himself to walk in between his father and the slut to tell the both of them every single thing that was running through his festering, anger-ridden mind.

However, seeing his obviously distraught mother running into the hallway posed a fork in the road. He could give his father a piece of his mind or he could attempt to assuage the hurt he'd cause his mother.

The choice was clear. His mom needed him more right now. Besides, his slight hesitation had given his father enough time to offer the hussy a walk to her vehicle and he was already out the door. He could catch him as soon as he was done with his mother. One thing was certain, though. Things with his dad were finally getting out in the open tonight.

Kenny moved to follow his mother when a vice grip latched on to his arm he turned frazzled questioning eyes to his older cousin who returned a worried cautionary look. He jerked his arm away violently, the adrenaline of his anger allowing him to surmount the Osmosian's superior strength.

How dare his cousin look at him that way! This was his fault! He'd let this happen. It was his responsibility to fix it. He narrowed his eyes into a furious warning sneer at the older teenager before turning and heading for the hallway after his mother.

Finding her wasn't difficult. With the looming arrival of their second child, the Levins now only had one spare room and the Asian American wouldn't ingress into someone else's private quarters.

She flinched at hearing the door slide open but didn't turn from staring out the window in the darkened room as he walked in. She tilted her head towards his direction to direct her slightly hoarse voice at him. "I just need a moment, sweetheart. I'll be right out."

Kenny had never known how his mother could tell all the members of her family apart from each other without the use of sight. She was fully human. It must've been some sixth sense she instinctively possessed. He ignored her unspoken request for solitude and moved into the room.

Hearing him approach, she turned disgruntled dark hazel eyes in his direction pleadingly. "Kenny, please lea-" her complaint was lost to his shoulder once he wrapped her in his arms in a desperate embrace.

He placed a kiss to the crown of her head. "I'm so sorry, Mom." His voice sounded much rawer than hers did.

Finding enough leverage in her son's surprisingly iron grip to release her own arms to return the hug and turn her head to settle it on his shoulder, she responded solemnly, "It's not your responsibility to apologize for your father, Kenneth."

He pulled away far enough to be able to look down into her eyes. "I'm not apologizing _for_ him. I'm apologizing for being just _like_ him."

This got a genuinely amused giggle from his mother, which solicited a very confused grimace from the teenager. She looped her right arm up through his and reached up to stroke his cheek lovingly. She stared in his eyes with unflinching sincerity. "I love that you are just like your father, sweetheart. You are our legacy to the Universe. You have chosen to assume his role and watch over billions of people. I am so proud of you."

A pained expression came to his features and he attempted to clarify. "I don't mean that, Mom. I mean the arrogance and the selfishness when it comes to what we want. Not to mention, the complete lack of social awareness and lack of empathy… We're identical."

Julie raised a sympathetic brow at her son and smirked. "Oh, that. I'm afraid; one thing is tide to the other in the two of you. It's what makes you boys good at what you do."

The boy brought a hand up to brush a long strand of her charcoal hair behind her ear. He looked so forlorn…so lost. "But he hurts _you_ and I've never done anything to stop him."

The Asian American woman stopped rubbing her son's cheek and the boy leaned further into her hand, needing the comfort of his mother's nurturing touch. Her heart ached for him. She had to make him understand. "Kenny, it's never been your job to defend me. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I could have left your father decades ago if I couldn't handle who he was. I just deeply love that arrogant bastard and take my responsibility to the Universe very seriously."

The brunette was completely confused, so his mother elaborated. "You and your father have the same psychological profile, sweetheart, but you haven't needed to make the choices he's made. While you have the benefit of a gradual weaning into the task of protecting this world, your father had the burden plopped on his lap when he was ten years old. That's an unbelievable tax on such a young mind, yet he took it upon himself without complaint."

"Your father knows when he wakes up every day; he'll face some kind of trouble. He has to leave his family and take off for days or weeks at a time to face horrors in order to help strangers and he does all this of his own free will, because no one but him and now maybe _you_ can do it. The stress he is under would break most other men and he's been taking it on non-stop for almost thirty years, now."

"Because his personality naturally quirks towards cockiness, as does yours, he's developed an insanely annoying defense mechanism towards the stress. He uses female attention as a distraction from it. I doubt he even consciously realizes that's the reason he flirts. I realized it when we were still teenagers."

"I married him fully aware of this flaw, Kenny. Although it infuriates me at times, I had to be with your father for both our sakes. In my case, I love him. It's that simple. In his case, I am the only semblance of normalcy he has left in his life. I ground him in the bizarre his reality has become. He knows that no matter what he faces out there, in my arms he'll be home. He needs me and trillions of others need him."

"Days like today get to me, because I'm human and I have my own pride. No one likes feeling as if they're second best in the eyes of the person they love, regardless of how much they know they aren't. Even if I understand why he does it, it still really stings at times. But you can mark my words, Kenneth Maxwell Tennyson: no matter how strong the Savior of the Universe is…I'm much stronger."

His mother's words illuminated the perfect idea in Kenny's mind. Suddenly, he remembered the teen version of his father's haunted look when he believed she had left him. His mother was the key to helping his father change. He smiled insanely at the realization and his mother eyed him wearily.

"If Dad toned down the flirting, would it make you happy, Mom?"

The question was somewhat random and her boy was smiling maniacally, so Julie was almost hesitant to answer. She let out a semi-defeated sigh, shaking her head. "Kenny, I gave up hope long ago of your father changing…"

The brunette rolled his striking green eyes but remained smiling. "That's not what I asked, Mom. Would it make you happy?"

She shrugged condescendingly. "Of course, sweetheart, but-"

Her son didn't bother hearing the rest she had to offer in the form of a response. He gave her a sloppy smooch on the cheek and released her, dashing for the door to the room. She sent a shocked inquiry at his retreating back. "Where are you going, Kenny?"

He stopped at the door a second to send her a debonair smile. "To make you happy." Then he has gone.

The brunette teen made it to the end of the hall and found his uncles and cousin all sitting at the kitchen counter. His arrival caused three sets of concerned eyes to fall on him. "Are you alright, Dude?"

He focused his eyes on Devlin as if noticing him for the first time. "Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm fine. Where's my dad?" All eyes turned towards the front entry, indicating he hadn't come back in the house yet.

This was perfect! His plan would work so much better in private.

Kenny directed his next statement at the two Osmosians. He kept his tone as serious and sincere as he could through his growing smile. "Uncle Kevin, Dev…if my dad comes rampaging in here looking for my mom… I'm going to need back up." Then he was running towards the entryway and out the front door.

All three Levins exchanged anxious looks. Kevin broke the uneasy silence after rubbing his face aggravatedly with both hands. "God! What is the Runt doing?"

Although the question sounded phrased toward the actual deity rather than him, Devlin shrugged exasperatedly. "I have no clue, but every idea that kid has when he's this tweaked is a bad one. So, be ready to take on whatever comes through the door, Dad."

Both male Levins absorbed the taedenite infused granite of the counter top and waited.

The news van was just starting to pull away from the curb when Kenny emerged from the house. This was better than he'd planned. He needed his father completely distracted for this to work. His father was astronomically astute when he focused, but zoned out like he was right now… he was easy pray. This was twisted and cruel, but the younger brunette knew it would work.

He schooled his expression into a distraught façade and tried to look down at the floor as if ashamed. He couldn't make eye contact for this. He had the same tell as his father when he lied. He approached quickly and pretended to be out of breath when his father turned to him. He could hear the worry in his voice already. "Hey, Kiddo! What's wrong?"

Time to put his acting abilities to the test, "Dad, I was just passing by the living room and heard Mom and Aunt Gwen talking. Mom was crying, so I went to see what was wrong. They didn't see me, but I heard Mom tell her something awful." He stopped and let out a sob for effect.

Huh. He was _really_ good at this!

Ben grabbed both his son's shoulders, anxious dread creeping up his spine. "What is it Kenny? What did you hear?"

The boy mumbled distraughtly. "Mom said something about not knowing how you never realized how much Gwenny looks like her…then…then…" He cut off again with a sob.

He was seriously beginning to wonder who handed out Oscars.

Ben was growing more and more hysterical with every word that came out of his son's mouth he literally shook the boy, shrieking, "What did she say next, Kenneth?"

Kenny's eyes darted up to lock with his father. In his rattled state, the man would never notice the twitch.

"You're not Gwenny's father, Dad…"

**Review?**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10 or any of the characters in this fan-fiction. Man of Action does.**

**Enjoy!**

Had it not been for Kenny's complete conviction that his father needed this to stop hurting his mother: his heart would have shattered at the agonized expression the man's demeanor took on.

The wielder of the Ultimatrix suddenly felt drowned by negative emotion after negative emotion. Hurt, rage, betrayal, rage, despair, rage, fury, rage, indignation, rage, guilt… He literally couldn't breathe when the overwhelming rage finally took dominance. He shoved his son aside almost carelessly and ran for the house.

How could she do this to him? Yes. He'd done some stupid things to her but nothing on this level! She was a shrine to him! He'd never betray what they had for another woman! On top of that, having to find out secondhand from his own son that his beautiful perfect little girl wasn't his! That she was a product of some tryst she'd had with some random guy…

Was it a tryst? Did his wife have a lover? The thought of that made his stomach turn with hurt and revulsion. Who was it? He'd kill him. He would literally rip the bastard who'd dared touch his beautiful Julie to shreds! God knew, he'd killed for her before!

Kenny barely had enough time to dial his Omnitrix to his Jetray transformation and propel himself toward the entrance of the house. Wow! His dad moved fast without transforming! He dashed to reach the doorway before his father made it there. He knew he had help inside but this would be much easier if his mother wasn't around to witness it. She would make his father feel better too quickly. He needed this to fester so it would scar into his mind forever.

Amazingly, he was able to intercept his father two feet from the door. He spread his red-clawed talon-like hands and shielded it. "Dad, wait! What are you doing?"

Ben tried failingly to mitigate his fury as he spoke to his son. "Get out of the way, Kenneth. I don't want to hurt you."

The aerophibian/teenager didn't flinch or waver in his stance. "But what? You want to hurt Mom? Is that it? Is that why you want to get in the house, Dad?" He was honestly shocked at the level of sadism he could achieve when he needed to. He wasn't sure if he was comfortable with this information.

The older brunette was almost in tears at this point. Did his son really believe he could hurt his mother? He just needed to talk to her. He needed to know why she'd done this. Most of all, he wanted confirmation that what he'd always believed would happen… finally had. She'd grown tired of dealing with him. She no longer loved him.

His voice was an agonized mewl. "I'd rather die, than ever hurt your mother, Son."

Upon seeing the defeated slump to his father's shoulders, Kenny was satisfied with the flogging. He spoke up with as much pep as he could muster. "That's great to hear, Dad, 'cause I was lying." He quickly zoomed past him and transformed back to his human form once he was about fifteen yards from the house. He crossed his arms and smirked smugly, awaiting his father's tirade stoutly.

His mind was so numb from raw emotion that Ben took a moment to register what his boy had said. The moment it did register, however, he snapped incredulous outraged eyes back at the teenager. The familiar rage brewed in the pit of his stomach when he saw the smirk that played on the boy's lips.

Whom did this freaking kid think he was playing with? This was the sickest joke anyone could possibly conjure up! What was wrong with him?

Ben made a conscious effort to reign in his temper as he quickly made his way over to his boy. His parents didn't believe in physical discipline and had raised him accordingly. Julie came from a different culture and school of thought. Both Kenny and Gwenny had received spankings when they were little, but never in anger. Both of them knew it was extremely counterproductive to discipline a child in anger. That said, nevertheless, if he reached his son while in his current state whatever he did to the boy would decidedly be in anger.

Needless to say, he was pissed beyond believe when he converged with Kenny which manifested in his grabbing the boy forcibly by the scruff of his shirt and raising him to eye level as he burned matching emerald eyes into his, hissing, "Do you seriously think this is funny, Kenneth?"

To Ben's unfathomable surprise, the kid actually had the audacity to let out a humorless chortle before responding. "Actually, Dad, you're not going to believe this, but I don't find this reaction you just had funny whatsoever. I find it sickening," He went completely solemn to finish, "Every time you make Mom go through it… I've known what a paternity suit is since I was eight. How many have you had brought against you now? Twelve? Thirteen? I've lost count. Never mind how much fun it was with those three psychos who actually managed to infuse their kids with your stolen DNA and_ I_ had to be brought in to act as the control for the experiments the Plumbers had to perform on their severely mutated codes in order to save their lives! You think this was bad? Go talk to Mom! Put me down!"

His son's words were a splash of freezing water, numbing and stabbing simultaneously. He didn't even notice when his grip on the boy relented and he dropped effortlessly to his feet. He stepped back as if struck and turned his eyes to the lawn escaping the furious burning recrimination in his son's. "God, Kenny! Did you have to do _this_?"

The younger brunette wasn't ready to feel sorry for him yet. He kept his tone light. "Well, Dad. You know what they say about 'payback'. She's not a good girl."

Okay. He didn't care about his rationalization anymore. There was no way he was letting his fifteen-year-old son disrespect him. He turned indignant eyes back to him, narrowing them into a warning sneer. "Kenny!"

The brunette steeled himself against his father's gaze. He'd come this far. He needed to end this for his mother. He crossed his arms resolutely and leveled an icy stare back at him. "No Dad! Tell me. How did it feel to sample what Mom has gone through every few weeks for two freaking decades? I can understand the suits and the psychos are unavoidable. They are an annoying bi-product of who you are. But, it doesn't help when you throw kerosene in the flames by flirting with every single one of the slightly less insane ones. You are torturing the only woman with the infinite patience to put up with all _this_. You know, she was inside crying while you had your ego stroked out here by that tramp, right!"

Ben's eyes widened in rueful dismay, "What?"

He turned toward the house as if he could see through walls and find his distressed wife. He let out an exasperated breath and raked a hand through his chestnut hair, turning concerned eyes to his son. "Is she alright?"

Not ready yet, "This has to stop, Dad. I did this because you asked me to." The moment his father's anticipated confused eyebrow shot up, he elaborated, "You don't remember any of this, because Devlin had to erase your memories to maintain the time stream but when I traveled to the past, I told you what you were doing to Mom with your unabashed flirting in this time." His voice grew lower and sad, "I also told you what you did for her when she was pregnant with me." Ben cringed almost painfully at that memory.

Kenny noted his father's reaction but elected to continue. "You asked me to help you stop hurting Mom when I got back to this time. But, thanks to the unrivaled detachment we both share, I forgot until today; until you allowed that woman to hang all over you like a second skin. God! You should have seen yourself, Dad. She looks young enough to be your daughter and she had the gall to kiss you right in front of your wife. You really know how to pick 'em!" He rubbed a hand up and down his face as if it would erase the memory.

"I ask you to help me and this is what you come up with, Kenny? You really _are_ warped, kid!" The older brunette was having a very difficult time negotiating the mind-blowing contrition both his son's prank and his own acts with Mekayla earlier were bubbling up in his stomach. He needed to take the edge off with some dry humor. More pressing than that, he needed to find his wife and prostrate himself in apology.

The teenager scoffed sarcastically. "Yeah. Uncle Kevin says I have damaged genes on my dad's side. It explains why I'm_ exactly_ like him. You should probably watch out when insulting the mirror. Seriously, though, Mom's a saint for putting up with you and she's in it for the long haul. You need to stop hurting her. If someone told me I had lost her, I'd go insane. So, I knew you would also. We both have crap memories and a we're both insensitive jerks so I had to literally traumatize this into you for you to realize how bad a problem it is and make you want to do something about it."

Ben crossed his muscled arms, then stroked his manicured beard thoughtfully. He sent his son a cross between a questioning and pleading look. "How am I supposed to stop doing something I don't realize I do, Kenny?"

The boy hadn't thought that far. "Um. Okay… If you really want to stop, we can arrange for every single person that cares about Mom to point it out to you when you start doing it. That's a lot of people, Dad! Everyone notices but you. Even I notice it and I'm as oblivious as you are."

The wielder of the Ultimatrix cringed at the prospect of that. He had no idea how often he did this but the thought of everyone who liked Julie getting on his case about it sounded about as fun as an enema. Then a horrifying thought hit him. "Does Kevin know about this?"

Although the sadistic smile that spread on the boy's face was answer enough, his son was still generous enough to verbalize his response. "Oh, yeah! He made an offer to Mom to kick your butt a little while ago. She was kind enough to refuse. I'm telling you, Man. She is such a keeper."

Ben couldn't help let out a laugh at that. He wrapped his arms around his son gratefully. Yes. His Julie certainly was that. She'd given him everything a man could want, including the amazing young man in his arms. He could put up with some annoyance and humiliation for her. He could do anything for her. He'd already done it. "You think Kevin could really take me down, Kiddo?"

Kenny shrugged as his father kept an arm around his shoulders, edging them towards the house. Both his uncle and dad had the advantage of ridiculous build and training. "If neither of you uses any powers, I have no idea who comes out ahead. Have you ever fought each other one on one without using them?"

Ben ruminated this as they reached the door and entered. It was an extremely intriguing notion. "I don't think we ever have."

Now, the older brunette found the notion of finding the answer to that question intoxicating. Who _would_ win in a fight between him and Kevin? Why had he never tried to figure this out before?

Upon entering the kitchen, two very on-edge armored up Osmosians met them. Ben regarded them amused, "What's up with you two?"

The Levin males released their hold on the matter energy almost in perfect synch and Devlin sat at a stool while his father reclined against the counter with a relieved sigh. Gwen came around to narrow her eyes worriedly at her cousins. "Are you two alright?"

Ben eyed her confused. "Yes. Why wouldn't we be?"

She sent a further questioning look at her nephew who smiled and seemed to communicate 'I'll explain later' with his eyes. She raised a sculpted confused eyebrow and nodded, backing away.

The oldest brunette scowled slightly at his cousin's odd behavior but dismissed it quickly as hormones. He moved his eyes excitedly to his best friend. He spoke with such eagerness he was almost shaking. "Hey Kevin, you wanna fight me?"

The Osmosian's response was unhesitating. "Yes!"

The brunette chuckled at the paralleled enthusiasm but felt he should elaborate to be sure. "I don't mean a spar, Man. I mean, really all-out, man-to-man fight. No powers. Just bare knuckles."

Kevin just smirked. "No clarification was needed, Tennyson. I said yes."

The wielder of the Ultimatrix wrung his hands together excitedly. "Great! Have any of you seen Julie?"

Gwen answered him still completely confused. "She hasn't come out of the guest bedroom since you offered to walk the reporter to her van."

Ben was literally shaking with excitement at that tidbit. "Oh that is just perfect! We were going to end up in there anyway. Saves me the trip from anywhere else in your house," He started unbuckling his heavy belt as he turned to the hall. "Kev, give me half an hour. Then, I'll meet you outside."

When her son started laughing, it finally dawned on Gwen he meant to do this today. "Ben, you're not seriously fighting my husband at my baby shower."

The green-eyed man regarded her as if she'd gone insane. "Of course, I am. But, first, I have to go apologize the living daylights out of my amazing wife." He pulled his shirt off over his head.

Devlin had to hold his sides as his laughter escalated exponentially once he caught a glimpse of his cousin's horror-stricken face.

"Ah, Man! Dad! Gross! You're in someone else's house!"

The brunette was already making his way into the hallway when he paused, turning to send an innocent smirk to his traumatized son. "Don't knock it, Kenny. Making up after you've done something stupid is one of the best perks of being married."

"I reserve the right to knock_ that_ any time it involves _my_ parents! Seriously, Dad! This is so wrong! Stop laughing, Devlin!"

Kevin couldn't help but put his two cents into this one as he started chuckling as well. "If that's what you're going in there for, Tennyson…thirty minutes is far too ambitious. I'll see you in five."

Ben sent an insulted sneer at him in return. "Hey! She's pissed at me! I need five to ten minutes of groveling just to get her willing. Bite me, Kevin!" He turned with an indignant huff and started making his way down the hall again.

It was against his nature not to get the last jab in. "I'll leave the biting to Julie, Ben! Thank you for the offer, though!"

His nephew turned horrified eyes to him, putting both hands to his hair and pulling painfully. "Uncle Kevin! Seriously! What are you trying to do to me, here?"

The Osmosian sent the most sincere apologetic look he could at his nephew. "Sorry, kid. Your dad makes it way too easy."

"You know what, Uncle Kevin, never mind. I just need to get out of this house. I don't want to be in a house while my parents are somewhere within doing _that_."

Kevin knew he was a bad person for doing this but the Tennyson guys were such easy targets. They left themselves open time after time. "Woah! Seriously, Kenny? Then, where do you sleep, kid? 'Cause according to your old man, only night that ain't happenin' at your place is when he's away on missions."

Devlin had to make a mad dash for the powder room before he peed his pants.

* * *

><p>An hour later, the cousins stood by the glass French doors, watching their top-bared fathers as they rained punishment on each other. The fight had only started about five minutes ago (It took a lot of apologizing on Ben's part for Julie to forgive him so quickly). Kenny was pointedly avoiding looking at her as she stood with Gwenny next to his aunt. They were outside laughing at his dad's attempt to put his uncle in a chokehold, which the Osmosian countered into a full body slam. It wasn't something someone other than her own son would probably have noticed and it could have just been his imagination but she was walking wrong since she emerged from the guest bedroom with his dad. It was so disturbing.<p>

Their dads had pulled the picnic tables away from the center of the yard to give them a nice circumference in which to maneuver. All the guests at the party were cheering them both on. Oddly, nobody seemed to be taking sides. They just wanted to see a good match…so did the boys.

They had stayed inside to talk about what had transpired outside between the Tennysons earlier. Kenny had expressed to his cousin his plan to get everybody involved in pointing out the obvious to his father whenever he deviated again. It was tremendously stupid they even had to but some people just didn't posses the same level of common sense as others. His father really didn't realize he was so crass. His mother deserved better, though and his father was willing to do better for her. So, he would rally as much support to the cause of annoying sensibility into Benjamin Tennyson as he could.

Devlin sounded deeply impressed as he spoke, "So, you told him Gwenny wasn't his? How did he not figure out that she's an Anodyte and he's pretty much the only male Anodyte on earth that could have engendered her?"

Guilt flitted briefly across the younger teen's emerald eyes. "I'm just like him, so I know all his weaknesses, Dev. We aren't that bright when we get distracted. I took advantage of his being in La-La-Land over that nauseating reporter. He became so enraged, so fast that it blinded him to logical thought… also planned."

The teenage Osmosian let out a stunned scoff. No one knew better than him, his cousin downplayed his intelligence and guile. Nevertheless, it wasn't really because the kid was lazy. He walked in the shadow of giants. As long as no one knew his potential, he had no expectations to live up to. However, the rare times Kenny showed what he was capable of… it was almost frightening. "That is some cold, heartless crap right there, Dude. I didn't think you had that kind of darkness in you. You're a monster."

Kenny rolled his eyes and released an insulted snort. "I did what I had to do to keep my promise to my dad, Man. So, he knows how to make my mother happy. She deserves that. They both do."

The teenage Osmosian's green eyes snapped to his aunt and he smirked evilly. "Oh, yeah! He definitely made her happy."

The brunette snapped outraged emerald eyes to him. "Don't you dare, Devlin!"

The older teen continued staring out the glass door as if a hole wasn't being burned into the side of his head. He was really impressed how well his uncle was holding his own against his father, considering what he'd been doing a few minutes ago. You'd think he'd be spent! Then again, he _was_ partially an energy being. Devlin himself had unbelievable stamina when it came to fighting on little rest. He still smirked evilly when he spoke again. "What? I'm agreeing with you. Your plan worked. He's making her happy," the mocking edge to his voice was so inappropriate, "He made her so happy a few minutes ago, I think she hurt herself. Did you notice how she's moving?"

"That's it, Levin! You're dead!"

Just like that, there were two fights going on simultaneously at Gwen's baby shower.

_FIN!_

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